Contemporary politics, local and international current affairs, science and extracts from the Queensland Newspaper "THE WORKER" documenting the proud history of the Labour Movement.
Truth never damages a cause that is just ~ MAHATMA GANDHI

US President Donald Trump has defended revealing
information to Russian officials, saying in a pair of tweets he shared
"facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety" and had "the
absolute right" to do so.

But
Mr Trump wrote on Twitter that he shared the information for
"humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight
against ISIS & terrorism".
It came as the Kremlin described the reports Mr Trump had disclosed classified intelligence as "complete nonsense".
"It's
not a subject for us, it's the latest piece of nonsense. We don't want
to have anything do to with this nonsense," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry
Peskov said.

"It's complete nonsense, not a subject to be denied or confirmed."

Earlier,
a Washington Post story alleged Mr Trump jeopardised a key intelligence
source on the Islamic State terrorist group by disclosing it during a
meeting with Mr Lavrov and Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak at the
White House.
The White House declared the allegations incorrect.
"The
story that came out tonight as reported is false," Mr Trump's national
security adviser HR McMaster told reporters, adding that the leaders
reviewed a range of common threats including to civil aviation.
"At
no time were intelligence sources or methods discussed. The president
did not disclose any military operations that were not already publicly
known. I was in the room. It didn't happen."

The White House also released a statement from
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who said the Oval Office meeting
focused on counter-terrorism, and from Deputy National Security Adviser
Dina Powell, who called the Washington Post story false.

The newspaper had cited current and former US officials as its sources.
The
Washington Post said the information Mr Trump relayed to the Russian
pair had been provided by a US partner through a highly sensitive
intelligence-sharing arrangement.
The partner had not given
Washington permission to share the material with Moscow, and Mr Trump's
decision to do so risks cooperation from an ally that has access to the
inner workings of the IS militant group, the Post said, citing the
unnamed officials.

Trump briefed on 'great intel every day'

During
his Oval Office meeting with Mr Lavrov and Mr Kislyak, Mr Trump went
off-script and began describing details about an IS threat related to
the use of laptop computers on aircraft, the officials told the Post.
Mr
Trump appeared to be boasting about his knowledge of the looming
threats, telling them he was briefed on "great intel every day", an
official with knowledge of the exchange said, according to the Post.

Despite the White House denials, the news triggered concern in
Congress, with House Speaker Paul Ryan demanding a full explanation of
what happened.
Democrat Dick Durbin called Mr Trump's conduct
"dangerous" and "reckless", while Bob Corker, the Republican head of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee, called the allegations "very, very
troubling" if true.
The incident will also heighten Mr Trump's
strained relations with intelligence workers and former officials, who
view Russia as an adversary.
Even before he was inaugurated,
intelligence professionals worried about sharing classified information
with Mr Trump, who often shoots from the hip.
If true, the breach was ill-timed, coming a day after Mr Trump fired former FBI director James Comey, who was leading an investigation into Russian meddling in the presidential election.
Mr Trump's first national security adviser, Michael Flynn, was fired after he misled Vice-President Mike Pence about conversations he had with Mr Kislyak.
The CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence declined to comment on the Washington Post story.ABC/wires

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About Me

I was inspired to start this when I discovered old editions of "The Worker". "The Worker" was first published in March 1890, it was the Journal of the Associated Workers of Queensland. It was a Political Newspaper for the Labour Movement. The first Editor was William "Billy" Lane who strongly supported the iconic Shearers' Strike in 1891. He planted the seed of New Unionism in Queensland with the motto “that men should organise for the good they can do and not the benefits they hope to obtain,” he also started a Socialist colony in Paraguay.
Because of the right-wing bias in some sections of the Australian media, I feel compelled to counter their negative and one-sided version of events.
The disgraceful conduct of the Murdoch owned Newspapers in the 2013 Federal Election towards the Labor Party shows how unrepresentative some of the Australian media has become.